"Joe" wrote in message oups.com...
| Here in the Gulf Alicia in 83-84 was my first. We had 110 knots steady
| and the eye went right over us. I was working offshore and lost my
| home to the storm, It was OK because I did not pay much for it, just
| getting out of the Navy I worked 14 days on 14 days off. It was laid
| out across the neighbors lawn. I was on a great boat at the time. The
| Point Barrow, Armored plated windows in the wheelhouse, 10,000 HP, even
| the USCG seeked shelter on our boat. Destruction in the local area was
| awesome, i would be rich if I had a viedo camera at the time.
|
| Some time in the late 80's I went thru an eye at my house in La Marque
| just N. of galveston. It was daytime and the eye was large and we had a
| crystal clear bright blue sky for about 30 min.
|
| Did you get your melted wire problems sorted out yet?
|
| Joe
| MSV RedCloud....A real farraday cage
|

Sounds like you've been in the thick of some nasty storms. Ya gotta be tough to survive -
or lucky.

Yes, I've gotten all my boat re-wired with 14 gauge wire so it's better than ever
because the thick wire makes for minimal voltage drop on the longer runs.

I've put in new distribution panels, new inverter, new solar panels, new charge
controller, new lightning protection for the solar panels and charge controller,
new VHF, new depth instrument and wind instrument (Navman), new running light
fixtures and lenses, new steaming light on the mast, new backstay, new throttle
cables on the Honda outboard as the old ones were melted and fused, new wire
for the 120volt circuits, new anchor light, new AM/FM/CD player, new wiring and
one new plug for my three tiller pilots all of which survived being in the clothes
locker. Replaced the electronics module on the fridge and have cold beer again.

I've warranteed a volt/ohm meter and one A/C adapter for one of the laptops.
Also one transistor radio. My handheld GPS I was ready to send in for warranty
because it was taking all day to acquire a constellation but I did a reset on the
CPU and re-installed the software and it seems to be working fine now.

I still need to go up the mast and install the new wind sensor, VHF antenna and
wires to them and the steaming light. I'm gonna wait on that till Wilma goes by or
hits, one. I've got chains cut to length which I can hang off the backstays off the
transom into the water so lightning, if it strikes again, can go to ground easier and
maybe bypass the wiring inside the boat getting to the cast iron keel.

Bottom line is the boat is ready to sail again and I've considered sailing off
to the south and east along the coast of Cuba to get east of Wilma but she
could well turn due east herself and nail me on a lee shore. So, I'm gonna
stay put again.

All told, not counting labor, the damage by the lightning amounted to about
three grand. No damage to the hull that I could find by snorkeling and looking
other than some paint chipped of blown off around a couple of thru- hulls and
some dark marks tracing across the deck towards the upper shrouds from the
foot of the mast.

The woman who works at the desk at the nearby marina said she saw the lightning
strike. She said it was a large, straight strike that seemed to last about three seconds.
OUCH! No wonder the ear that wasn't on the pillow rang for two days afterward.

I think the foam I poured into the hull might have saved my life. There was too
much insulation forward for the lightning to try to get through to ground so it
didn't bother. Lucky I was in the v-berth instead of sitting on the wooden
companionway steps where I usually am during lightning storms. A hole was
blown out of the bulkhead where the internal wires ran along some external
wires and this action would have been about six inches from my head.

May God have mercy on me.
CN